| Date | 2 November 2012 |
|---|---|
| Source | Slough Observer |
| Reference | VP-0045 |
| Volume | Views of the Past |
| Collection | Views of the Past |
Transcript
A home through the ages
Email Elias with feedback and your memories on observernews@berksmedia.co.uk
DURING the late 17th century, a small hunting lodge – known as Keepers Cottage – was built on the top of St Leonards Hill, in the Royal Forest of Windsor. In the 1750s it was used as the country retreat by Prime Minister William Pitt.
In the 1760s, the house was owned by Maria Waldegrave, who married James Earl Waldegrave a year before he died, in 1763, from smallpox. She enlarged the small hunting lodge and employed Thomas Sandby to extend the building, which she named Forest Lodge.
In 1773, Maria Waldegrave married the Duke of Gloucester, the brother of George III, and the house was renamed Gloucester Lodge and the estate greatly enlarged.
By the following the year, the Duke of Gloucester had spent so much money – and was falling into debt – that he and the Duchess decided to move abroad and rent the house out.
In 1782, the house was purchased by the 3rd Earl Harcourt and renamed St Leonards Hill.
The Harcourt Family occupied the house until 1846 when it was let to a succession of tenants before being sold in 1869.
In 1872, St Leonards Hill was purchased by Sir Francis Tress Barry, who became MP for Windsor in 1889. The house was made into a five-storey, French and Italin-style building, by architect Charles Howell.
Sir and Lady Barry lived there until they died in 1907 and 1926 respectively.
Their son, who inherited the house, hated it and tried to demolish it using dynamite.
However, the shell of the house survived for several decades afterwards.
In 1927, the remaining estate was purchased by brothers, William and Bernard Thornton Smith, who, after an abortive attempt to build a 1930s block of flats on the hill, sold the ruins and remains of the St Leonard’s Hill Estate to Reginald Try, founder of Windsorian Motor Coach Company, in 1942. The estate still remains with the family.
• For a rare opportunity to visit the ruins, the Inner Wheel of Slough will hold their Grand Pumpkin Party at the ruins on Saturday, November 10, from 3-7pm.
This event is strictly by ticket only with a donation of £10 for adults and £5 for children – with proceeds going to the Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice.
LOOK BACK: Below, St Leonards Hill in 1880, when it was home to Sir Francis Tress Barry. Above, the Ruins of the St Leonards Hill mansion.
Images
